The Gospel according to John 3:7B-15
“Jesus said to Nicodemus: "'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
REFLECTION:
Have you ever pondered how it is that over the centuries, and even today, some people follow Jesus and some don’t? Jesus came to his own people but most of them rejected him. We see this phenomena in our own time; we all know that the wind blows where it wills, and we hear the sound it makes…so it is with the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit has always been present – that gentle breeze blowing over us all. The scripture verse that immediately follows today’s Gospel reading says, “For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
God so loves the whole world. He desires that no man should perish. Yet it requires an act of our own free-will to accept the gift of eternal life through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. We all have family members and friends who have not yet responded to this infinitely generous gift. Like St. Augustine, we know that there but by the grace of God, go I. We had not in our former days responded with faith to God’s most generous gift of salvation through Jesus. Even now, we owe our growth and faith in God to God Himself for we have been dependent on the graces that come from Him; however, it requires our response to that grace – the gentle breeze of the Holy Spirit blowing over all of us.
Like St. Monica, a life of heartfelt prayer for the conversion of our family members and friends is the most appropriate response we can have to show our gratitude to God for the graces He sends generously to the whole world. We just celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday. May God be forever praised for His Mercy poured out on all of us! Amen.
